Abstract

The problem of the addiction to opiate substances is one of the most serious problems in modern societies. In spite of the fact that there are abundant studies on the molecular bases of this phenomenon, there is a certain controversy about what happens at the endogenous opioid system level (encephalines, endorphines, dinorphines). In the present work we will describe the effect of the dependency to opiates on the degrading enzymes of opioid peptids and other peptids in certain cerebral regions of humans with antecedents of addiction to heroine.